Automatic exchange system for the transmission of intelligence.



v E. s. OOULTBR.

AUTOMATIC XCHANGE SYSTEM FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF INTELLIGENCE.APPLICATION FILED APR.9,1913.

5.41 a Patented Febfll, 1914.

3 BHEETS-SHEET 1.

Z? i Coalicr P. S. GOULTER.

AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE SYSTEM FOR- THE TRANSMISSION OF INTELLIGENCE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9, 1913. ggfiqm u Patented 152230.24, 19M.

3 BHBETS-SHEET 2.

Swuawtoz [7 5. (built)? qwi/Mwooao Maw-w v L w .n V

flfkwwm F. S. GOULTER.

AUTOMATIC EXCHANGE SYSTEM FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF INTELLIGENCE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9, 1913.

Elttozumg 3 SHEETS-BEEET 3.-

Patented. Feb. 24, 1914.

scope of the claims.

FRED S. COULTER, 0F LIVONIA, INDIANA, AQQIGNOR OF THIRTY ONE-HUNDJREDTHS1E0 WILLIAM GUTHJRIE, 0

Leeann.

Specification of Letters Iiatcnt.

F CAMTFBEILLSEURG, INDIANA.

SYSTEM FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF INTELLIGENCE.

Patented llieh. wt, 19M.

Application filed April 9, 1913. Serial No. 759,994

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that- I, Flinn S. CoUL'rEn, a citizen of the United States,residingat Livonia, in the county of Washington and State of Indiana,have in ented new and useful Improvements in Automatic EX- changeSystems for the Transmission of Intellige'nee, of which the following isa specification.

T his invention relates to improvements in exchange systems for thetransmission of intelligence and has particular application to anautomatic system of this character.

lln carrying out the present invention, it is my purpose to provide anautomatic exchange system for the transmission of intelligence by meansof which any one set of a plurz lily of sets of transmitting andreceiving instruments may be automatically connected up with any otherset of such instruments so that the operators thereof may communicatewith e: ch other, thereby avoiding the use of manually operated exchangesystems.

it italso my purpose to provide an automatic exchange system which willbe found especially useful for interconnecting SUliscribers stations andwhich will be constructed. in such manner that each subscriber will havecomplete control over the automatic-exchange so that such sul'iscribermay have talking comn'iunication with any other subscriber. v

Furthermo e, I' aim to provide an automatic exchange system for thetransmission of intelligence which will embrace the desired features ofsimplicity, elliciency, durability and convenience and which may beinstalled and maintained at a minimum expense and readily andconveniently operated by the persons having control of the instrumentsleading into the exchange.

.With the above and other objects in view, the invention ctmsists in theconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forthin and falling within the in the accompanyingdrawings; Figure l is adiagrai'nmatic view of an exchange system constructed in accordance withmy present invention. Fig. 2 is a view in elevation of a subscribetelephone set. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view through a sill;-

scribers telephone set showing the indicator used in my system. Fig. 4-.is a similar view through the subscribers telephone set showingthecontroller. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view through the casinghousing the interconnecting devices of the various sets of instrumentsshowing the means for controlling and rotating such interconnect ingdevices. Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view through the casing showing thevarious interconnecting devices in operative position. Fig. 7 is a planview of the inner surface of one-half of the casing, showing the arrangement of the jacks. plan view, partly in section, of one pair of theplugs and the operating means theretor,

and Fig. 9 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view through the casingshowing one of the jacks.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, A and B designatesubscribers stations, while C indicates the exchange station. In thepresent instance, the suh rrilr ers stations A and B are each in thetorm ot' a telephone station including a transmitter l and a receiver 2.Leading from with :=1il:

scribers station into the central sh'uiion are line wires 3, 3, whilelocated in the exchange station C are the interconnecting devices of myimproved automatic exchange system. In the present instance, theseintercmuuci. ing devices are housed within a. cylii'idrical drum orcasing Llcomposed of a longitudinal section of insulating material 5 anda similar section of metal or the like (i, the confronting longitudinaledges ot'tho sect ns being formed with outwardly cxtc-ndiin; flanges 7formed with alining apertures to receive securing bolts or the like 8whereby the sections are held in casing or drum i'or mation. Si'iitablyarranged within this casing 5 a spring motor 9 or other term ofoperating means, while iournaled in the opposite end walls of? thecylinder approximately centrally theieoi is a longitudimd shaft. 10having a gear wheel ll keyed thereon and meshing with a pinion 131after-ted to be rotated by the motor 9. The shaft ll) supports and isadapted to init'all -q o1 )cratc certain elements of the interconnectingdevices and for this purpose has loosclx mount ed thereon a series ofcollars lll spat. it. apart along the length of the shaft and adaplcc'lto Fig. 8 is an. enlarge-tr l O O move with the latter and enable thelatter to move independently there f when conditions warrant.

In order that the shaft may impart movement to the collars and suchshaft rotate independently thereof, springs let are coiled about theshaft and each has one end thereof suitably secured to one face of oneof the cellars and the opposite end fastened to the shaft. Appropriatelyfastened to each collar 13 at diametrically opposite points andinsulated therefrom by means of stripsor' insulation 15, are arms 16, 16depending from the collar and spaced apart in parallelism, the upperextremities of the arms being concaved to conform to the configurationof the collars at the points of connection. The arms of each pair areeach formed with a'socket 17 opening into the lower end thereof, whilein open communication with such socket and coaxial therewith is acircumferentially reduced bore 18 extending well into the respective arm16 and slidably mounted within such bore 18 is a shank 19 having thelower end thereof headed as at 20 and disposed within the socket 17,while depending from the headed end 20 of the shank and coaxial with theshank is a plug 21 slidably mounted within the socket l7 and adapted tobe moved outwardly of such socket by way of the open end thereof, theopen end of the socket being preferably closed by means of a cap 22threaded there- I into and formed with an aperture through which theplug moves. Surrounding each plug 21 within the respective socket 17 isa coiled expansion spring 23 having one end bearing against the head 20on. the shank l8 and the opposite end abutting the confronting face ofthe cap 22, such spring acting to hold the plug normally in retractedposition. It will be seen that as the shaft 10 rotates the arms 16thereon and the plugs carried by such arms will move with the shaftandin an arcuate path incident to the connections between the arms andshaft.

Arranged in an arcuate path immediately adjacent to the path of movementof each pair of plugs is a plurality 'of pairs of jacks 2 f embedded inthe insulated section of the ments, and the line wires 3, 3 of each setof instruments have the free terminals thereof tapped onto the arms 16,16 of a pair of the plugs, while tapped onto each pair of jacks adaptedto receive the respective pair of plugs are the line Wires of theremaining sets of instruments With which the particular set ofinstruments may have talking communication. In other words, the pair ofplugs of each set of instruments may be thrown into the sockets adjacentto the path of movement thereof of any other set of instruments so thatthe calling subscriber will have talking communication with the calledsubscriber. Thus, it will be seen that, in the present instance, sevenpairs of jacks are disposed adjacent to the path of movement of eachpair of plugs, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

The shaft 10 is normally held against movement under the action of themotor 9 by means of a controlling mechanism comprising a disk 28suitably fastened to the shaft and formed with an annular row ofapertures 29 adapted to receive a pin 30 formed on one end of a lever 31fulcrumed between its ends upon a bracket 32 suitably fastened to theinterior of the drum, the pin 30 on the lever being normally held in theaperture aliningtherewith by means of a spring 33 or other form oftension device having one end connected to the bracket and the oppositeend fastened to the free extremity of the lever. Fastened to this lever31 adjacent to the vpin end thereof is an armature 34 disposed withinthe influence of an electro magnet 35 carried by a bracket secured tothe interior of the drum 01' cylinder and connected in series with anindicator located at each subscribers station, said circuit including acommon conductor 36 connected to the winding of the magnet 35 and havingone side thereof grounded as at 37 and the opposite side leading into aterminal I box 38 from which latter lead individual conductors 39 eachrunning through a subscribers station and including in series with suchstation a so es of energy as a battery 10, an indicator controllingmagnet 41, and a controller 42, the latter being herein shown as a key,the free terminal of each conductor 39 being grounded as at 4:3.

In each subscribers station is an indicator composed of a dial 44mounted upon an arbor 45 adapted to be rotated by a spring or-other formof motor 46, anda finger 47 overlying the face of the dial. The face ofthe dial 44 is formed with an annular row of apertures 48' disposedadjacent to the periphery of such dial and designed to receive a pin 49formed'upon one end of a lever 50 having the other end thereof fulcrumedas at 51 upon a suitable bracket, a

spring 52 holding the pin 49onthe lever 50 in engagement with thealining aperture in the dial. 'Upon this lever 50. is an armature 53disposed within the influence of the respective magnet 41; The shaft 10scanner and the dial it of the indicator at each station are so timed asto run synchronously so that when the controller 42 in the respectivesubscribers station is closed, the circuit will be energized to energizethe magnets 41 and 35 and thereby withdraw the pin 39 from engag en'ientwith the respective aperture in the dial H of the indicator at suchsubscribers station, and the pin 30 from engagement. with the respectiveaperture in the disk 28 at the central otiice. In this condition of thesystem, the spring motors 9 and 46 act to rotate, respectively, the disk28 and the dial 44c, and should the subscriber at the station wish tohave talking communication with another subscriber, the callingsubscriber will hold the controlling circuit closed until the dial 4%has rotated a distance corresponding to the number of the calledsubscribers telephone; To illustrate, assuming the line wires 3 of thestation A to include the pair of arms 16 at the end of the shaft 10remote from the motor A in Fig. 5, and the line wires 3 of station 15,to include the last pair of jacks in each series or row of such jackswith which the plugs of all other lines coiiperate, the

operator or subscriber at station A will close the respective key 42thereby permitting the shaft and dial of the indicator to rotate. W henthe dial has rotated a distance corresponding to the length of the rowof jacks, such subscriber will release the key and so open the circuitthereby locking the shaft and dia against further movement. Thus, therespective pair of plugsare initiated into service and capable of beingthrown into the alining pair of jacks of the called phone.

In order that each pair of plugs may be thrown outwardly from therespective arms and into the alining jacks, the pairs of arms each carryan electromagnet 5% disposed between the same and controlling anarmature 55 carried by a cross piece 56 formed of insulatingmaterial andhaving the op posite ends thereof bifurcated and ei'nbrac- A oppositesides of the respective pair as 16, the bifurcated ends of the crosspiece 56 being connected to the upper ends of the shanks in therespective pair of arms 16 through the medium of pins 57 passed throughthe free extremities of the limbs of the bifurcated ends of the crosspiece and the shanks 19, such pins being adapted to work within slotsformed in the arms 16. Thus, when any one of the magnets Fi l isenergized, the arn'iature 5:3 controlled there by will be attracted andthe cross piece actuated with the effect to slide the shanks i9, 19within the bores 18 and so throw the plugs 2L outwardly of therespective end oflhc arms and into the aliningpair or jacks. Each magnet54 has the core thereof in (he fo m of a permanent magnet so that whenthe armature 55 has been attracted it will be held against return tonormal position under the action of the springs 23 after the winding ofthe magnet 54 has been deenergized. The coil of each magnet 54 isconnected in an actuating circuit including a source of energy such, forinstance, as an electric battery 59 located at the respective station, apole changer 60, the line wires of conductors 3 of such station, therespective pair of arins 16, 16, and an impedance coil 61, the batterypole changer, impedance coil and respective magnet 54 being allconnected in series in this circuit, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings.

Subsequent to the initial movement of the plu 5 under. the action of themotor 9 and shaft 10 as previously described, the oper ator orsubscriber at the particular calling station will throw the pole changerso that the current of the battery 59 will flow through the. winding ofthe magnet 54 and so set upa magretic flux of a strength great enough toact upon or penetrate the air ga bietween the pole of the respectivemagnet an the armature 5.5,wvith the effect to attract such armature andso throw the plugs into the registering or alining jacks. Succeedingthis operation, the calling subscriber breaks the circuit of the magnet54 at the pole changer and so deenergizes .the winding of such magnet,thereby taking the current of the battery 59 off of the line and out ofthe talking circuit, the impedance coil 61 acting to prevent the passageof the talk ing current through the winding of the magnet When theparticular subscriber has finished the conversation over the line hemanipulates the pole changer so as to re verse the current flow from thebattery 59 through the line thereby overcoming the magnetic force of thepermanent core of the magnet 74- and, as a C()I1SQ-}UGI1CG, the armarture is repelled or released so that the springs 23 may react andrestore the ari'naturc to normal position. After the conversation hasceased, the calling subscriber again energizes the controlling circuitby closing the controller 42 and so permits the shaft 10 to be rotatedunder the action of the spring motor 9 until the respective indicatoradvises such subscriber that the parts are in original position.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the a companyingdrawings, the construction, node of operation and manner of en'iployiugmy inwntion will be readily apparent. it will be seen that when two setsof instrun'ients are interconnected so as to establish communicatioubetween such instruments the shaft it) may be caustd to rotateiiulependently of and without disturbing the connections between suchcommunicating instruments, owing to the spring connections between theshaft and sets of instruments.

While I have herein shown and described one preferred form of myinvention by way o1 illustration, I desire tohave it understood thatl donot limit or confine myself to the precise details of constructionherein de scribed and delineated, as modification and variation may bemade within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit ofthe invention. Furthermore, I wish it to 15 be understood that myinvention in its use ful application is not limited to telephone linesas the same may be employed in conjunction with telegraph apparatus andanalogous devices whereby selective interconnection between instrumentsis desired. It will also be observed that the range or capacity of myimproved automatic eX- change system may be varied in accordance withthe exigencies or circumstances of each particular case. e

I claim:

1. In an automatic exchange system for the transmission of intelligence,sets of transmitting and receiving instruments, an automati'c exchangemechanism interposed between said sets of instruments and including aplurality of interconnecting devices each connected to one set of saidinstruments and leading to another set, and anactuntihg device common toall of said interconnecting devices whereby the same-may be initiallyoperated, an indicator for each set of instruments designed to move insynchronism with said actuating device, connections between eachindicator and said actuating device, acontroller at each station wherebythe respective indicator and the actuating device may be operated toinitially actuate the respective interconnecting device, and means forsubsequently operating the respective interconnecting deviceindependently of the remaining devices to establish connnunicationbetween the calling and called sets of instruments.

2 In an automatic exchange system for the transmission of intelligence,sets of transmitting and receiving instruments, an automatic exchangemechanism interposed between said sets of instruments and including aplurality of interconnecting devices each connected to one set of saidinstruments and leading to another, an actuating device common to all orsaid interconnecting devices whereby the same may be initially actuated,and vmeans for subsequently operating the respective interconnectingdevice indepemilcntly of the remaining devices to establishcommunication between the calling and called sets at instru ments.

8. In an automatic exchange system for the transmission of intelligence,sets of transmitting and receiving instruments, an automatic exchangemechanism interposed between said sets of instruments and including adrum, a shaft journaled in said drum and capable of longitudinalmovement therein, pairs of plugs carried by said shaft and spaced apartalopg'the length thereof and adapted to rotate therewith in an arcuatepath, pairs of contacts carried by the interior of said drum anddisposed in an arcuate path adjacentto the path of move ment of eachplug, connections between each pair of plugs and the respective transmitting instruments of the sets,-connections be.- twecn each pair of jacksand the receiving instruments of the sets, means for rotating said shaftwhereby any one pair of plugs may be brought into registration with apair of jacks, and means for moving the respcctive pair of plugsradially of the shaft and into the alining jacks whereby the calling andcalled sets of instruments may be placed in communication. 1

4. In an automatic exchange system for the transmission of intelligence,sets oi transmitting and receiving instruments, an automatic exchangemechanism interposed between said sets of instruments and including adrum, a shaft journalcd in said drum and capable of rotary movementtherein, pairs of plugs carried by said shaft and spaced apart along thelength thereof and adapted to rotate therewith in fiii arcuatc path,pairs of contacts carried by the interior of said drum and disposed inan arcuate path adjacent to the path of move-- ment of each plug,connections between each pair of plugs and the respective transmit tinginstruments of the sets, connections be- 'tween each pair of jacks andthe receiving instruments of the sets, means for rotating said shaftwhereby any one pair of plugs may be brought into registration with apair of jacks, means for moving the respective pair of plugs radially ofthe shaft and into the alining jacks whereby the calling and calledsets. of instruments may be placed in communication, and connectionsbetween each pair of plugs and said shaft whereby the latter may berotated to move the inactive plugs relatively to those in use.

5. in an automatic exchange system for the transmission of intelligence.sets of transmitting and receiving instruments, an automatic exchangemechanism interposed between said sets of instruments and including adrum, a shaft journaled in said drum lon gitudinally thereof and capableof rotation therein, pairs of plugs carried by said shaft and spacedapartalong the lengththercof and adapted to rotate therewith, pairs ofjacks carried by the interior of said drum and disposed in an arcuatepath adjacent essee].

the alining jacks whereby the calling and called sets of instruments maybe placed in communication. Y

6. in an automatic exchange system for the transmission of intelligence,sets. of transmitting and receiving instruments, an automatic exchangemechanism interposed between said sets of instruments and including adrum, a shaft ournaled in said drum longitudinally thereof and capableof rotation therein, pairs of plugs carried by said shaft and spacedapart along the length thereof and adapted to rotate therewith pairs ofjacks carried by the interior of sai drunr and disposed in an arcuatepath adjacent to the path of movement of each plug, connections betweeneach pair of plugs and the respective transmitting instruments of thesets, connections between each pair of jacks and the respectivereceiving instruments of the sets, a spring motor for rotating saidshaft whereby any one pair of plugs may be brought into registrationwith a pair of jacks, a magnet having a permanent magnetic core andcontrolling each pair of plugs, and means for energizing said magnetwhereby the respective pair of plugs may be moved radially of the shaftand into the alining jacks to establish communication between thecalling and called sets of instruments,

'5 in an automatic exchange system for the t ansniission ofintelligence, sets of transmitting and receiving instruments, anautomatic exchange mechanism interposed between said sets of instrumentsand including a drum, a shaft iournaled in said drum longitudinallythereof and capable of rotation therein, pairs of plugs carried by saidshaft and spaced. apart along the length thereof and adapted to rotatetherewith, pairs, of acks carried by the interior of said d'i'lfin anddisposed in an arcuate path adjacent to the path of movement of eachplug, connections between each pair of plugs'andthe respectivetransmitting instruments of the sets, connect-ions between each pair ofjacks and the respective receiving instruments of the sets, a springmotor for rotating said shaft whereby any one pair of plugs may bebrought into registration I with afpair of jacks, a magnet having apermanent magnetic core and controlling each pair of plugs, an electriccircuit including said magnet and adapted to energize the same to throwthe respective pair of plugs into the alining' 'jacks, and a polechanger whereby the flow of current through the circuit of said magnetmay be reversed to overcome the actlon of the core thereof.

v 8. In an automatic exchange system for the transmission ofintelligence, subscribers ing a plurality of interconnecting devices,each connected to one of said stations and leading to another, anactuating device common to all of said interconnecting devices wherebythe same may be initially actuated, an indicator at each stationdesigned to move synchronously with said actuating device, connectionsbetween each indicator and said actuating device, avcontroller at eachstation whereby the respective indicator and actuating device may beoperated to initially operate the respective interconnecting device, anelectromagnet for subsequently operating the respective interconnectingdevice independently of the remaining devices to establish communicationbetween the calling and called stations, and means for energizing,deenergizingand reversing the flow of current through said magnetsubstantially as and for the purpose set forth. I

In testimony whereof I afii'x my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED S. COULTER.

Witnesses:

J. Mormon CARTER, OSBORNE E. COFFMAN.

tinn tus this patent may he obtained tor five cents each, by addressingthe f commissioner at Patenta Washington, D. it."

stations, an automatic exchange mechanism interposed between saidstations and includ-

